Here's what they were reading. Here are the bikes, waiting for release by credit card:

They look heavy, though easy to mount (what with that "girl bike" styling). They don't look like something people would want to steal, but stealing is a bad idea, because they've got GPS devices embedded in them.

I hope the glitches are worked out and that people use them, because we've got them.

There it is, progressive ideas in action. Extract rich people's money, start a program, lard it with all sorts of carbuncles: buy weird bikes that no one would buy or ride if they were spending their own money, in the name of inclusiveness or ergonomics or something.

The perfect bicycle exists, and can be bought now, that everyone would ride. That perfect bicycle form has been in existence for most of 100 years. You know what that perfect bike looks like (hint: they're called commuter bikes). These are not those.

This program will die. It's embarrassing. The progressives will blame everyone but themselves. Good money has been flushed down the toilet. The bikes themselves will fall into disrepair, disappear, or be given away. Eventually a tangled pile of them will sit in the municipal lay-down yard, until everyone has forgotten and they can mercifully be sold for scrap. Sic transit gloria progressus.

This program will be an abject failure in all-white Madison, WI. Food for thought, how long would this program last if the bikes were located on the South Side of Chicago, Northwest Baltimore, Southeast DC, Liberty City, Miami or East St. Louis? Every bike would be stolen, vandalized or thrown in the river within two weeks. This is mushy-headed liberal idiocy at it's best. These people are ruining our country.

Seems kinda pricey. Do they provide bike locks? Since the rider is financially responsible for the bike in case it is damaged or stolen, having someone ride off on your rented bike while you are patronizing one of Madison's wonderful touristy opportunities seems like a real danger.

This is rule by committee and the liberals will remain blissfully unaware that their dreamy ideas will fail in the market place. No problemo, though, it is other people's money and if the project is a failure it is because the unwashed masses are ignorant.

The liberals will not accept failure for any project that the citizenry ignores. These people have too much time on their hands lending credence to the old saying; "idle hands are the devil's workshop."

I don't think so. The way the fee structure works is you are billed per 30,60,90 minute or more block that you keep the bike out of the bike return depot. Basically, the idea is to check out a bike on the east end and ride it to the west end to leave it at another depot for someone else to check out.

We have something like this business in D.C. There are some glitches - a few racks of bikes that never get used, other racks that are so heavily used that it's hard to get / park a bike. But it's become a very popular commuting or zipping out to lunch option here because it's a very practical way to go a few or 15 blocks, and it's cheaper than 4 taxi rides if you get the annual pass key. The "girl bike" styling isn't going to impress any racers but nobody is going to steal such a clunky thing and if you're wearing a suit and have to go 8 blocks to meet a buddy for lunch, it works pretty well. FWIW, we do have the racks in SE D.C. - near the new ballpark, 8th & I and the bar district near the USMC barracks & Naval Yard - but not in the craptacular/dangerous neighborhoods. We cyclists are a little utopian, but most of us aren't insane.

TW: dingis. I love our local bikeshare business but do feel like a dingis riding one of the goofy looking things.

A 24 hour pass costs $10. A 7 day pass is $30, while an annual membership is $65. Personally, as someone who is perpetually on a tight budget, I think the one day pass is too high. Still, if that were the end of the fees, I would say OK, not too bad... but there are other fees. After the first 30 minutes of use, they start to charge you, first $2 for the next 30 minutes, then $5 for each after that. So you really don't want to have your bike out for any length of time, or it will cost you. You know, for the price of renting and using one of these bike for a month, it would be cheaper to simply go out and buy a bike of your own. Even with gas prices hovering in the $4 dollar range, it would be cheaper to go ahead and drive my car downtown.

In the end, this is destined to prove itself a horrible idea. I just find myself staring at the picture wondering "what were they thinking?". And what is going to happen when someone inevitable gets injured while riding a Madison B-Cycle, or is their a "no lawsuit" clause built into the contract when you rent one of these things. I guarantee that it will end up not making nearly as much money and get as much use as it was projected and it will end up costing much more than the original bid.

Oh, and do they provide little seat and handle grip sanitizers for the individual rider, because i have no idea who the previous rider was and how clean they might be.... I'm just sayin.

garage: The City of Madison is spending $100,000 a year for the first 3 years of the program, on top of user fees. The first year's money came from the city's reserve fund because, obviously, having rent-a-bikes downtown is an emergency!